Trendy English Talks 6

Технологии развиваются невероятно быстрыми темпами: новые модели смартфонов, новые приложения и сервисы. Современный преподаватель английского может и должен уметь сократить подготовку к уроку и проверку домашнего задания, используя современные технологии. Мы обсудим самые горячие новинки в сфере применения ИКТ, чтобы быть всегда в тренде!

Evgeny Usachev, TESOL qualified, is a Vice President and an ELT teacher at the Moscow International Academy. He also heads a Post-graduate Studies Teacher training department at the Academy. Evgeny specializes in providing trainings and seminars on how to teach adults and use digital products in ELT.

"Aiming for fluency with digital tools"

As we sail through the 21st century, technology in the classroom is becoming more and more predominant. Tablets are replacing our textbooks, and we can research just about anything that we want to on our smartphones. Social media has become commonplace, and the way we use technology has completely transformed the way we live or lives. 

This widespread adoption of technology has completely changed how teachers teach and students learn. One of the major challenges English teachers face these days is how to use digital tools to develop learners’ fluency. In this talk we will be looking at a few ideas and tools that can help to enhance students’ speaking skills and to utilize the power of the digital devices in a positive and productive way. 

Anita Modestova is a CELTA qualified teacher and a business trainer. She specializes on teaching adults (one-to-one and groups, both online and offline). Anita is officially registered as ИП in Russia and delivers seminars for freelance teachers on how to start your career as a self-employed teacher.

"Zoom VS Skype"

 During my talk I’m going to give an overview of different platforms and explain why I chose Zoom. After that I’ll demonstrate its features. It would be great if you download the Zoom app and we could try using it together during the demonstration.

 I’ve been using Zoom for about a year and now am ready to share all its secrets with you. I believe me should give up Skype and use Zoom only for teaching online.

 So, take your laptops with you and let’s practice (learning by doing) =)

Konrad Dejko, has been teaching English for 24 years, has prepared and supervised courses at all levels and I is an IELTS examiner. He has used his experience to report for Pearson on new edition of the Speakout helping do develop this bestselling course with BBC videos for adults. He has also been working as a translator, mainly for businesses and, in this capacity his legal training has proven extremely useful.  Recently, he has been interested in helping scientists publish their papers in English-language periodicals. He has also been responsible for proofreading medical texts for Polish Gerontology working as its language editor. Konrad loves sharing his experience giving lectures and training at conferences (recently IATEFL and PASE). In his free time, he enjoys reading books (studying English, I specialised in modern American literature), and kayaking, but when his favourite river play spots freeze he turn to skiing.

"Integrating skills for efficacious communication"

Is cannibalizing books reproachable? Do you need to gulp down all the teaching material? Can course material be taken apart and reassembled? The talk features hints on how to use technologies to integrate languages skills for efficacious communication (also teaching professionals, such as scientists). I will also give suggestions on how to select material to target specific needs and help learners build their confidence.

Anna Neil is an ELT teacher and CELTA teacher trainer based in Brighton, UK. She is passionate about educational technology and aims to deliver fun, dynamic and interactive lessons using the latest EdTech tools and trends.

"Taking part in the EdTech revolution"

As teachers we want to deliver fun and interactive lessons and hope technology can help us to achieve this. However, using most of the EdTech products aimed at students often results in learners working with their heads down, fully immersed in their world and not communicating with each other. Unable to find the product that met my teaching needs I got up enough courage to create my own. I hope this session will inspire you to get involved and bring your ELT expertise into Ed Tech.

What will you get out of this session?

Deepen your understanding of why teachers need to get involved in EdTech and how they can make it work to their advantage. Plus a free voucher for the exPLAYn app to help you engage your students and bring more fun into your classroom.

Yulia Beymlina, CELTA & Delta qualified, is a freelance teacher trainer, materials developer, and an ELT teacher. She has a wide experience in a range of international teaching contexts such as Lehigh University (Fulbright, USA), Universidad del Valle (British Council, Colombia), BKC-IH (Moscow). Yulia specializes in providing trainings and seminars on the practical aspects of the implementation of communicative methodology.

"Clil & PBL: a case enhanced by technologies"

Modern teens are becoming increasingly reluctant to engage in course book activities that are far removed from their interests and their natural habitat: the Internet. It takes a lot of sweat to trick digital natives into following your syllabus, but there’s another, less painful way.

Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and Project-Based Learning (PBL) alongside with the introduction of free, easy-to-use online tools offer an opportunity to learn the prescribed teaching points in a more meaningful way.  In this talk, we will deconstruct a successful case to see how this can be done.

Tatiana Sokolova, EFL Teacher and Teacher Trainer, PTE and LCCI Examiner, CELTA graduate, BEC Higher Certificate holder

«What Happens When Double Trouble Meets Double Challenge »

Teaching teenagers has always been a problem which is not merely connected with the peculiarity of this tender age but with the necessity for teachers to continuously evolve alongside with rapidly changing characteristics of every new generation to come. According to the theory of generations, today Centennials have replaced Millennials in the classrooms.

Although, today’s teenagers are very much like previous generations in many ways, yet they are different.

They are surrounded by technology, which they can generally use with ease and efficiency and even their brain, according to the research, differs physically from a brain of a Millennial, which is also attributed to the fact that they were born with a mobile device in their hands. That is why we will hardly be able to surprise them with technology in the classroom, because they take it for granted. On the contrary, we might unpleasantly surprise them if we DON’T utilize technology in teaching, so this is the first but not the only trouble we need to deal with.

May be you can guess, what the other one is? If not, I invite you to discuss it on Sunday, April, 22. We will also try to come up with the answer to the question what we can face this double trouble with.